Confederate flag controversy has rebel-themed items flying off shelves — VIDEO
As national debate swirls around the Confederate flag, Las Vegas business owners say products with its emblem are suddenly hot sellers.
One step into the Toy Shack on Fremont Street, and it’s easy to see what they mean.
On a recent visit, shopper Christina Richards, 44, snatched the last of the 1969 General Lee Dodge Charger die-cast kits from a glass showcase at the back of the store.
“Not too many of these around anymore,” she said. “Gotta get them while you can.”
Just more than two weeks ago, more than a dozen of the Confederate flag-themed car kits lined the same area, Toy Shack manager Johnny Jimenez told the Review-Journal.
Now, even after the store boosted the price from $32.99 to $42.99, the area was empty.
Just across the aisle, coffee mugs with “Lynyrd Skynyrd” etched inside a Confederate flag were notably fewer than dozens of other design mugs surrounding them.
“People are going wild for these products because all of a sudden they’re rare,” Jimenez said.
Controversy over the flag flared in June after the slayings of nine black worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
Similar to other valley toy and hobby stores, Toy Shack offers few products related to the Southern battle flag that was flown during the Civil War. But what’s left has suddenly become hot sellers.
SHRINKING INVENTORY
Jimenez said his store offered an inventory of about 200 Confederate-themed items — including the couple dozen die-cast car kits and a few dozen mugs — just two weeks ago.
By Thursday, that inventory was down to eight items.
“We just can’t keep any of it on the shelves anymore,” said Kim Perez, an assistant.
Steve Johnston, owner of Rogue Toys in the central valley, said he also is seeing an increase in demand for his Confederate flag items — a G.I. Joe action figure, the General Lee and “Dukes of Hazzard” action figures and lunchboxes. Johnston compared the sudden demand for Confederate-themed merchandise to the death or newsworthy development surrounding a celebrity or public figure.
When famous people die or make news, demand for their merchandise surges as consumers rush to purchase what they believe is suddenly a more valuable item, Johnston said.
“You see that spike in the market,” Johnston said. “It creates a frenzy.”
Johnston said demand for a Bruce Jenner Olympic action figure was so low in April, he couldn’t sell it for $2. In June, the same action figure sold for $28.
“A lot of it just comes down to what’s in the news and what people are talking about,” he said.
By Thursday, Johnston’s vintage 1980 “Dukes of Hazzard” tin lunchbox, his confederate-flag thermos, a set of “Dukes” Mego brand action figures and a 1981 toy model of the General Lee had all been accounted for.
But as attention slowly tapers off and shelves are re-stocked, the product usually returns to a similar price as before, Johnston said. He expects the same for his items bearing the Confederate flag.
“It’ll eventually come back down in value,” he said. “That’s just the nature of the business.”
THE POTENTIAL FOR FLIPPING
In Henderson, store owner Brad Howard bought multiple vintage General Lees from a local collector in hopes of flipping them for a few extra bucks.
His store, Brad’s Toys &Collectibles, features popular toy collections such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G.I. Joe. But it’s Confederate-themed items and merchandise related to the new movie “Jurassic World” that selling the most.
“You can really cash in on these hot-button issues,” Howard said.
Jack Schibrowsky, a 27-year professor in UNLV’s Department of Marketing and International Business, agrees.
When the public fears an item might become scarce or unavailable, it’s not uncommon to see a temporary spike in consumer demand, Schibrowsky said.
The professor noted the 2012 shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., when fear of possible legislation against gun ownership sparked record firearms sales across the country.
“People became concerned about their ability to purchase the item in the future,” Schibrowsky explained.
But after the “gun boom” of 2013, firearm sales leveled off in 2014. On a smaller scale, Schibrowsky predicts the boom for Confederate products also to die down soon.
“I think this is going to be relatively short-lived,” he said.
Until then, Jimenez, Johnston and Howard plan to continue selling their Confederate items, despite larger retailers such as Apple, Amazon, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart already removing such items from their respective stores.
Howard pointed out that even after banning the flag, both Wal-Mart and Amazon continue selling other potentially offensive merchandise, including items featuring the Swastika from Nazi Germany and the face of Argentine marxist Che Guevara.
A symbol of the Confederacy is different, he said.
“I don’t believe (the alleged South Carolina shooter) represents everybody,” Howard said. “One person and his beliefs shouldn’t represent everybody else’s point of view.”
His colleagues echoed that sentiment.
“We’re OK with having these products in stock for customers that want it,” Rogue Toy’s Johnston said. “Our goal isn’t to offend anyone, just provide the toys that collectors want.”
“It just represents a symbol of the South,” Toy Shack’s Jimenez said. “It’s part of American history and culture. The flag represents the battles that made America into what it is today.”
Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj.
